As few of you may know (and fiewer care), It looks like I will be heading out to the UK for Christmas this year. Thanks to the advice of many Massassians, and a heapload of googleing, I have a good hunch as to the places I would like to visit. Unfortunately, I have run into a problem. Transportation.

Unannounced to me, my parents booked a stay at a very nice Manor in Kent. Unfortunately, it turns out to be >20 km from Canterbury and thus my link to 90% of the marvelous isle of the Britons. My parents will be renting a car for most of the trip, which will work fine for them. But it leaves me either tagging around with my parents for the entire trip, or paying bus/train/tube fairs and worrying about scheduling so I can link up with my parents before they head back at the end of the day, neither of which are crippling options, but I’d like to avoid them If I could.

So, under pressure, I did the only sane thing: I went insane.

Looking on Ebay and Craigslist I have found several listings for autos in and around the London area for less than £200. So here is my insane plan. I buy a cheap wreck online, flying out, picking it up, driving it around for 9 days, and then dump it off at a scrap yard before I leave. Obviously I have to worry about Insurance and MOT, but hopefully that should not be too hard. Here in the states there are plenty of sleazy “Car Insurance By the Week” places that sell just that, Car insurance by the week, I am hoping that these parasites have spread overseas as well, but I haven’t found anything suitable yet.

So my question is: Am I insane (well, I know I am, but is my plan insane?) Will this work, or is there some other, more sensible way for me to get from 20 km out of Canterbury to other more interesting places without spending a lot of money? Also, does anyone have an extra wreck you would be willing to rent out to a fellow Massassian for a week or so? Or the Name of a sleazy insurance place where I can buy insurance for such a short period of time?

Megabus.

How old are you? If > 18 tell them to sod off and go off on your own UK journey.

W.T.F.




I'm 22. I would normally just say screw the whole thing like I have the last three famaly vacations (they never turn out well), but I'm far to broke to afford a trip to the UK on my own, and I've been meaning to get out there for a long time.

Buying a wreck of a car is not really a good idea.

Um, why not just rent one too?

That was my first though, but between the Young driver fees( under 25 for most companies, under 23 for some), regular rates, and milige fees I was looking at ~£500. If all else fails I will probably end up renting my own car, I'm just looking to save a bit of cash (I'm a cheap B******, I know).

Isn't there some form of public transit between the place you're staying and the place you need to go to get all over the place?

That's half the problem, every single bus, train, or other form of public transit I can find picks up at Canterbury, which is about 20 km away from where we will be staying. As it stands, I need some sort of car to even get to public transportation. I can get a ride too Canterbury most of the time, but getting back looks like it will be problematic.

You're insane for going to Brittishland in the first place.

[QUOTE=West Wind]

Looking on Ebay and Craigslist I have found several listings for autos in and around the London area for less than £200. So here is my insane plan. I buy a cheap wreck online, flying out, picking it up, driving it around for 9 days, and then dump it off at a scrap yard before I leave.[/QUOTE]

There's one small flaw in this plan. Thanks to some stupid law or soemthing I guess, nowadays you have to PAY the dump to take your unwanted crap.

Here is, by far, the cheapest and easiest solution for your plan:

Get a bicycle.

20 kilometers is really a short distance. You can get there in 40-60 minutes cycling, depending on how fast you cycle. If you leave early, you'll have plenty of time to catch public transport, and even if you come back really late, your bike will always be there waiting for you, if you have a good lock.

It'll give you some exercise, an opportunity to cycle through the gorgeous English countryside, which is a marvellous feeling, and most of all, bikes are CHEAP if you buy them second hand, and should be easy to find.

Win. I didn't get a car nor a license up until the last two weeks of high school. How did I get around? Foot or bike. I would sometimes make sojourns that were ~20 km (12.6 mi). If it's mostly flat around that area, you can do it in 30 easy. This really is your optimum solution.

Great idea, with one small problem:

It's going to be winter when I get there. Cold. Rain. Snow.

Riding 20 km on a good day, great. Riding 20 km in freezing rain after dark? Not a good Idea.

Well is it ALWAYS going to be raining or snowing or stuff like that?

Really your next best option is as follows,
"Moooom! Can you take me to Canterbury?"

Pretty much

Snow? I really wouldn't worry, it doesn't hit Kent often and when it does it's not very much at all. However, we Brits freak out at snow and all traffic comes to a halt and you'd be lucky to get anywhere anyway on a snow day.
As for rain. Buy a raincoat you sissy!
Whereabouts are you staying? My home is kinda in Kent (in the very north-west, I'm technically both in Greater London and Kent:confused: )I might be able to give you some pointers about travel and things to see.

Barham. off the A2 south-east of Canterbury.

So I just found that the nearby town of Aylesham has a rail station that connects to London, so that might be my best option.

Pity, I kind of liked the insanity of buying a wreck...

For the money to buy even a junk car and sleazy liscence, it sounds like it'd be cheaper to buy your own plane ticket and hotel space for an equivilant time closer to public transportation. Definately sounds cheaper if you go off renting a car.

I think the bike idea is the best one I've heard in this thread, assuming you know how to get to where you need to go. When I was there, even during the winter, the weather wasn't as crap as everyone makes it out to be.

Crazy West Wind...

EDIT: Or the train option you just mentioned. That's probably better.

Ah, well in which case, I live about 50 miles or so away!
You ought to be able to catch a bus from barham to aylesham if you don't feel like walking the distance between the two. Bus prices tend to be between £1.30 and £1.50 depending on the area you're living in. You'd probably want a day travelcard in London to get around easily and see everything which will possibly cost £10 - $15 from there (perhaps more, it is quite a distance away). It might even be cheaper to buy a return to London and then buy a Zones 1&2 railcard upon getting there, depending on what kind of travelcard deal they offer from Aylesham. If you intend to go everyday for a week you might be able to get a one week travelcard which could save you a few bucks. It should still cost less than the price of buying a crappy car and ensuring it's got a valid tax disc and is insured etc.

Yes. And it gets dark at about 4pm here in the winter. And I mean that's when it gets proper dark, not starting to get darker.

Still, cycling through rain for just 20 km isn't that bad, I do that often. Don't tell me it's snowing that often in England? Snow has been rare here in the Netherlands, the past decade. I don't see any problems with cycling in the dark. All you need is lights, so others can see you.

it hardly ever snows in britain.

Come on, winter in England is like having Tea with the Prime Minister instead of the Queen. (I have no idea what that means.)

I was going to suggest a bike myself. 20k isn't that far. And if you dress warm, you should be okay.

This reply does need more attention. Megabus is an awesome cheap way of getting around the UK. You have to book your tickets online, but then you can get to places for around £1.

It's snows more often that you think in winter.

That, and when it snows most of the country grinds to a halt.

Actually, we have Megabus near where I live, so I did check into them when Detty mentioned they also existed in the UK. Unfortunately they don't seem to have any stops near where I will be (their service to Kent seems lacking).

Also, anyone whose website goes down or maintenance DAILY... well... yeah

What you need to do is book a hostel for 7/8 dollars a night in Canterbury and only stay in Kent maybe one night with your family. Hitch a ride with them to Canterbury and the hostel will be your center of operations between there and other places of interest (by train).